Easy No-Peel Stewed Tomatoes
This method for no-peel stewed tomatoes makes things so easy and much quicker! The tomatoes are simply diced and simmered with lots of garlic, onion, and herbs giving them excellent flavor. They freeze beautifully so you can preserve them without canning. Use stewed tomatoes as a base for soup, casseroles, chili, rice, sauces, and more.
Yield: 3 pints
Ingredients
- 4 pounds ripe tomatoes (I used half heirlooms and half romas)
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 cup (140 grams) diced onion
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt, divided
- 1/3 cup (50 grams) finely diced green pepper
- 6 cloves garlic, finely minced
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
Instructions
- Cut tomatoes into quarters and use hands to wipe out seeds. This doesn't have to be perfect. Then dice tomatoes. Set aside.
- Melt butter in a large sauce pot, then add onion and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Stir and cook 5 to 6 minutes, until onion is translucent.
- Stir in green pepper, garlic, oregano, sugar, remaining salt, and tomatoes. Bring to a boil, then turn down to a low simmer, uncovered, for 25 minutes. There will still be nice juices left that have lots of flavor, but it shouldn't be watery. Cook down another 5 minutes if needed.
- Let mixture cool and divide into pint jars (or you could do half pint jars), leaving 1 to 1 1/2 inches headspace*. Or you can serve the tomatoes that day as a side dish. Refrigerate jars for up to 5 days or freeze for up to 8 months.
Notes
For glass jars, you will want to leave at least 1 to 1 1/2 inches of headspace. (Headspace is the empty space between the food and the lid of a jar when canning.) Error on the side that more space is better, as you want to make sure the tomatoes have enough room to expand when freezing and thawing. If not, the glass can break.
You could also freeze the stewed tomatoes in plastic freezer bags, and then you don't need to worry about headspace.
*If you strongly prefer to peel the tomatoes, you can certainly do so and proceed with the recipe as written.
